Oysshprekhenishn - Incantations

Gitele the pious Gabete of Koriv, part 1.

I found the following description of a feldmesterin and gabete (female community functionary) in the Yizkor book of Koriv, a shtetl near...

Double, Double, Mi un Tsores ...

According to the ethnographic study I posted recently, Yom Kippur candles made with threads that had been used to measure graves were...

Witches gotta eat

'Feldmesterin’ sometimes appears alongside other ‘superstitious’ female trades, including witchcraft. Here are two examples from maskilic...

An ayin-hore incantation, to exercise an evil eye from a child

From the memorial book of the town of Pruzhany, Poland, recorded by A Fayvushinsky. Incantations like this one are often purposefully...